Roberts' Family History - Rick 's Father
Rick's Mother
John Roberts
was born December 16, 1798 and passed away on November 25, 1878 at Geneseo,
Illinois. He and his wife Sussanah were the parents of
Wesley Roberts.
Wesley Roberts
was born near Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois in 1843. On January 1, 1868,
Wesley was married to
Sabra Esther Harvey
. She was born in Michigan, August 11, 1848. Wesley and Sabra had 11 children.
Harvey Grant Roberts
was the youngest.
Harvey Grant Roberts
was born on November 3, 1867 near Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois. Harvey
married
Mary Emma Ballard
on October 30, 1893, at Vesta, Nebraska.
Mary Emma Ballard,
one of thirteen children, was born on August 11, 1858 in Covington, Kentucky
to George Ausburn Ballard and Mary Ann Neals Ballard.
George A. Ballard
was born April 22, 1818 in Chester County, Pennsylvania and passed away June
20, 1899 at Vesta, Nebraska. He married Mary Ann Neals on November 7, 1844 at
Seven Stars, Maryland.
Mary Ann Neals
was born February 25, 1828 at Wilmington, Deleware, and passed away in
December, 1893, at Vesta, Nebraska.
After Harvey and Mary Emma were married, they lived in Crab Orchard, Nebraska
until 1898. Mary Emma passed away July 19, 1919. Harvey later married Josie
McIntyre, who passed away in 1942. Harvey Grant Roberts passed away on June 14,
1939.
Willis Evert Roberts (Rick's grandfather)
was born in Crab Orchard, Nebraska, on September 18, 1894 to Harvey Grant and
Mary Emma (Ballard) Roberts.
When four years old, Willis came to Chadron, Nebraska in a covered wagon with
his parents and two sisters . They homesteaded on a farm southeast of Chadron
in the Bordeaux Creek area. A few months after their arrival in Dawes County, a
brother, Vernon Harvey Roberts, was born (this was Jean Richenbach's father).
Willis helped his dad in the fields, broke horses to ride and drive, and cut
wood. When he was twelve years old, he worked for a neighbor for $1.00 a day.
All of the work was done with horses. He attended a one-room school (Pioneer
School) near Bordeaux Creek which was heated with a wood stove and all of their
drinking water was carried from outside. Each student had his own slate and
slate pencil.
Willis married
Ita Maude VanNess
, a childhood playmate, on August 22, 1915, in Chadron.
Ita Maude
was the oldest of five children born to Charles Berdet and Lucinda Jane (Barr)
VanNess.
Charles Berdet VanNess
was born in Black Hawk County, Marshalltown, Iowa, on May 28, 1874.
Lucinda Jane Barr
was born in Stanton, Nebraska on March 16, 1878. Lucinda was part Canadian
Indian and Charles was an Englishman. Ita Maude was born in Dodge County,
Stanton, Nebraska, April 11, 1897. The VanNess family arrived in the Chadron,
Nebraska, area in 1908. Ita Maude attended the same school and Sunday School
with her two brothers and two sisters as Willis did.
After Willis and Ita Maude married, Willis worked for the lumber yard in
Chadron. They then lived on various farms in the Bordeaux Creek area, and in
the Flag Butte Community. In 1927 they purchased a farm in the Bethel
Community.
The Willis and Ita Maude Roberts Family
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Willis raised crops of navy beans, watermelons, wheat, potatoes, oats, barley,
and corn; he also had horses, milk cows, chickens, and sheep. The farm was
located two miles east of the Bethel Church, where the entire family regularly
attended church services. Ita Maude and Willis had ten children - seven sons
and three daughters. One son died in infancy. The children were: Lester, Dean,
Dale, Zada,
Charles
, Martheena, Steve, Avis and Boyd.
Willis and Velma Roberts
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Ita Maude passed away October 4, 1948 at the Chadron Community Hospital. Willis
married Velma Littrel Bergman on November 13, 1949. They continued to live in
the Bethel community until Velma passed away on June 23, 1973. After Velma's
death, Willis sold his farm to the Nebraska State Forest Service and retired to
a home in Chadron. The original homestead is now known as the
Roberts Trailhead
. Willis
passed away on November 27, 1980.
Charles Edwin Roberts
was born to Willis Evert and Ita Maude Roberts on July 6, 1927.
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